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Cosplayers have long been on their own when creating costume replicas and remixes for their favorite characters. That often meant doing everything from finding the right fabric to fashioning a custom pattern—with lots of trial and error.

But that’s starting to change. Companies are creating products with cosplayers in mind. Considering all the amazing cosplay that’s been created over the years, it seems almost hard to believe that it took companies this long to realize there was a market of cosplayers waiting.

The potential became clear to Simplicity Patterns when it took a visit to New York Comic Con. According to Simplicity consumer services assistant Tiffany Pegram, who told the Daily Dot she’s been cosplaying for the last 16 years, a bunch of their designers went to the convention for the first time a few years ago.

“Their general consensus was, ‘Hey, all these people are making awesome costumes, maybe we should give them patterns for it.’ So it’s been an ongoing process and an eye-opening experience,” she said.

The costume patterns section of Simplicity’s website includes cosplay mixed with what customers might think of as more Halloween-style designs. Some of the looks are licensed by brands like Marvel and DC Comics, with one of Simplicity’s latest releases taking inspiration from the DC Comics Bombshells costumes of Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Supergirl. The company also works with cosplayers and designers directly to create its patterns, including Effy Sews Cosplay and LoriAnn Costume Designs, who Simplicity often highlights on its YouTube channel. According to Pegram, the company keeps an eye on the cosplay community to see what it’s looking for, making, and using.

The black satin under-bust corsets that Erin Bray labors over in her sunlit midtown studio are brutally elegant. Steel-boned and rigid, each garment flattens flab with five front buttons. At its back, a thick ribbon weaves through a column of eyelets, ready to be pulled tighter and tighter into a contorted hourglass.

“A proper corset does not stretch,” Bray said. “The more you wear corsets, the more you manipulate your body.”

Bray, a professional corsetiere, has been hand-making the Victorian-era fashion item for more than a decade, usually for brides, cosplay enthusiasts and eclectic fashionistas. Lately, however, her business has been getting a boost from women who are “waist-training” – wearing a corset on a regular basis in the hopes of reducing waist size in the long run.

The trend has skyrocketed in recent months as celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Jessica Alba post corset-clad photos of themselves on social media, calling it a miracle weight loss solution and luring thousands into virtual waist reduction competitions on Pinterest and Instagram. Believers say the practice cuts inches from the waistline, but doctors warn against it, citing the potential for digestive problems and shortness of breath.

At Revelation in Fit, the new lingerie store that opened last week at 386 State St. in Los Altos, the bras in the showroom – seasonal and, in some cases, rather fashion forward – are only the tip of the bosom iceberg.

The Los Altos location includes an appropriately drape-y lounge area studded with fitting rooms, but don’t stop there. The real surprise remains cloaked behind a curtain even farther back in the shop – a voluminous and workmanlike “library” of approximately 2,500 bras that stretches the length of the store. Revelation welcomes walk-ins to browse in front or try an entire fitting, but also book appointments in advance to guarantee a leisurely consultation. Pieces range from $40 to $190.

Owner Robynne Winchester worked in San Francisco as a professional corset maker, coming to know ladies’ curves from measurements to pattern making, needlework and final fit. Historically the corset functioned as a preamble to the bra – as women began to unbind from full-torso-wear, they found key body parts still seeking support. Enter the brassiere, and a century and a half of evolving style and fit.

Women love to hate their bras. Mid-back muffin top. Straps cutting into shoulders. A half moon of underwire imprinted halfway up a breast. Most American bra retailers carry a limited range of band sizes (30-40) and cup sizes (AA-DD), and those in limited combinations. Winchester wanted to start a business that specialized in providing a fine-grained fit, rather than squishing all breasts into a narrow range of cup sizes.

“I wear a rare size myself and used to get all my bras from England, because no one makes my size,” Winchester said.

She took a business class through a women’s entrepreneurship initiative, wrote a business plan and got a loan. With the help of additional funding from an Indiegogo campaign that captured the sturm und drang of ladies’ tortured relationships to their chestware, she opened a shop in Oakland in 2014 and now a second location in Los Altos.

The European designers Revelation carries, including Marlies Dekkers and Ewa Michalak, use tailoring and judicious hardware to bring an avant-garde look to still-feminine bras, with hints of Valkyries, silken Madonna tributes and a denim/suspenders racerback situation that looks like it could handily double as self-confident outerwear somewhere other than Los Altos.

The women behind a Revelation in Fit have the steampunk edge of businesswomen who know that they are “a little bit of a throwback,” according to Winchester. Women of a certain age will remember a time when this level of lingerie fitting might be routine. And millennial readers have probably already heard online – often – that they are wearing the wrong bra size. For those in the middle, Winchester and her coworkers can provide an introduction to the concept.

FINDING THE RIGHT FIT

Charlotte Nix, who manages the Los Altos store, walked a visitor through the fitting experience last week. After measuring the “underbust” (the rib cage just beneath breast tissue) and the “bust” (the most “forward projected” part of the breast), she suggested that the erstwhile 34B try a 32D instead. Successfully.

That D cup doesn’t imply a shrinking violet has been hiding massive endowments. In the reality of bra sizing, the “letter” grade measures very specific dimensions, not total girth.

Winchester’s “body positive” mission extends beyond catering to women of all ages and sizes to include the quirks women don’t always talk about – the weird breast details that everyone has but don’t appear in Victoria’s Secret advertising.

Revelation in Fit carries every proportion, with band sizes from 28 to 46 and, depending on designer, from A-KK or M cups. Customizable lined bras allow for the addition or removal of padding to even out divergent breasts, and customers who are pregnant, nursing or accommodating mastectomies can vet brands that cater to breast tissue that’s undergoing changes.

Nix dips into the library to pick out options based on the torso shape and breast dynamics of the individual, in addition to basic preferences in style and shape of bra. If you’re thinking size, don’t stop at “forward projection” – what about breasts that are wider or closer set, fuller on top or fuller on the bottom, conical or round?

“We’ve been stuck in this A-DD myth, but it doesn’t reflect actual bodies,” Winchester wrote when she introduced the shop’s concept. “What does a bra that fits feel like? You know when Gandalf finds Shadowfax, his perfect horse? It’s like that.”

For bra lovers who have forgotten their Tolkien, that’s shorthand for a hard-won partnership of almost gravity-defying ease and effortlessness.

The great linguist of our times, Google Translate, tells us that fracta means “carry” … and if there is one thing that IKEA’s iconic blue FRAKTA bag is good for, it’s carrying things. Debuting in 1996, the polypropylene jack of all trades has a 19-gallon capacity and can carry up to 55 pounds with ripping. It is rated

for 1000 trips; meaning that if you use it once a week for your groceries (use #4), it would last nearly 20 years! But beyond carrying things, there are oh so many other ways to put the versatile blue bag to work.

The recent news of luxury fashion house bag (with a price tag of $2145) seems to have sent cheeky fashionistas and IKEA fans into a DIY frenzy, as evidenced by the explosion of FRAKTA hacks

flooding social media. Since DIY and upcycling and hacks in general are all part of the TreeHugger standard operating procedure, we’ve gathered a selection of them here for a bit of inspiration.

Our astounding selection of underbust corsets will have you dolled up and ready to go to any occasion: Steampunk extravaganzas, Renaissance festivities, holiday celebrations, Halloween parties—or even a visit to a friendly dungeon (with costumes for guards or assassins). Of course, you won’t need a reason go out—when you look this sexy, someone may talk you into a night at home.

Underbust corsets provide a wide range of sizing options. Depending on the corset, some are great for longer torsos, others just perfect for shorter torsos. Our corsets are splendid for smaller waists and larger plus-size waists—and everyone in between!

What a selection of materials, designs, accents and colors for those wanting to show off their feminine curves. Although all our tight-lacing corsets come with strong cording, some also have front metal busks or side zippers for easy removal.

Not all vixens are the same. Some prefer leather corsets, while others favor satin, denim or velvet. The Violet Vixen has something for anyone hoping to add a splash of shapely dazzle to her closet.

For a simple no-frills underbust corset, you have a wide selection of colors to choose from: blue, fuchsia, red, violet, pink or black.

Or if you’d prefer some adornment, check out our bustiers with zippers, beadwork, chains, metal accents, and gears and clockwork embellishments for Steampunk enthusiasts. So many choices of color! Pink, violet, white, blue, black, brown, green, along with stripes and other patterned designs and color combinations.

The power to turn all eyes on you! These steel boned underbust corsets come with mega-watt waist-cinching features: flat steel bones to flatten tummies and spiral steel bones to bend and flex with your curves. Don’t be shocked by the attention. These high-voltage corsets can really deliver the silhouette-enhancing energy to rev someone’s engine!

Those with plus-sized figures don’t need to worry about these corsets’ carrying capacity. The sturdy construction with heavy-weight materials means you’ll have curve-loving support for a long time. Your infrastructure will stay strong and sexy. They don’t give horsepower for corset ratings, but if they did—just how many stallions does one need? Amp your sex appeal with one of these delectable waist-cinchers!

NEW YORK, July 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — The McCall Pattern Company, Inc. (“McCall”), a part of CSS Industries, Inc. (NYSE: CSS), today announced a new licensing agreement with Sony Pictures Television for its Outlander television series. Under the agreement, exclusive sewing patterns will be released in early 2018 under the McCall’s® patterns brand, and will allow sewing and costume enthusiasts to bring their favorite Outlander fashions to life.

Each sewing pattern offers step-by-step instructions for creating wardrobe pieces from the popular series as seen on the screen. “Costumes and historical pieces have always been a central part of the McCall Pattern brand,” says McCall’s SVP/Creative Director Carolyne Cafaro. “We have long admired the Outlander program, and especially the beautiful Outlander garments that have become iconic since the series launched.”

McCall plans to introduce two designs initially as part of its Early Spring 2018 collection. Bringing these beautiful period pieces, inspired by the series’ costume designs, to complement the original line of historical garments is exciting, one which fans of the series will love and appreciate. “With a growing cosplay audience, this licensing partnership with Sony Pictures Television is sure to be a hit with our costuming fans,” says McCall’s SVP Sales and Marketing Stacey Long. “By launching early in the year, it gives fans a chance to plan their costumes early on. We expect four additional sewing patterns to be released through May 2018.”

Outlander follows the story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire’s heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives. The Outlander series, adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books, spans the genres of romances, science fiction, history, and adventure in one epic tale.

About The McCall Pattern Company, Inc. and CSS Industries, Inc.
Tracing its roots back to 1863, The McCall Pattern Company, Inc. is part of CSS Industries, Inc. (NYSE: CSS), a consumer products company within the craft, seasonal and celebrations markets that is primarily engaged in the design, manufacture, procurement, distribution and sale of all occasion and seasonal social expression products, principally to mass market retailers. McCall designs, manufactures, and sells sewing patterns under the McCall’s®, Butterick®, Kwik Sew® and Vogue Patterns® brand names. McCall is a leading provider of home sewing patterns, selling to mass market retailers, specialty fabric and craft chains, and wholesale distributors.

Forget breasts. That is what research by the late Devendra Singh, professor of psychology at the University of Texas says. Dr. Singh was known for his research on sex appeal and human attraction, with a specific focus on the optimal waist-to-hip ratio. His paper, “Optimal Waist-to-Hip (WHR) Ratios in Women Activate Neural Reward Centers in Men”, states that optimal WHR is a “phenotypic cue to fertility, fecundity, neurodevelopmental resources in offspring, and overall health, and is indicative of ‘good genes’ in women”. Basically, it makes men happy to see such women even if they don’t recognize it themselves.

The ideal ratio between waist and hips is between 0.67 and 0.8. So if you have 40″ hips, your waist should be between 27″ and 31″. If you have 36″ hips, your waist should be between 24″ and 28″. We call this the hourglass figure, displayed by Playboy bunnies, Marilyn Monroe, Scarlett Johansson and, of course, Kim Kardashian.

What these studies show is that you can be plump and yet set off those neurological happy signals if you have a well proportioned figure. In other words, it is not the size of each body part that is important but the ratio. Before you dismiss this as patriarchal crap guaranteed once again to make women feel bad about themselves, here is the kicker: an hourglass figure is also linked to fertility. Wider hips allow for easier births, in other words.

The mysterious thing called sex appeal is largely biological, it seems. Men tend to be attracted to women with healthy body weight, larger breasts, longer hair, high voices and an optimal waist-to-hip ratio. The question is whether this sex appeal can be achieved artificially, something that women, cosmetic companies and shapewear manufacturers have been trying ever since. Enter corsets and waist trainers.

Recently, Kim Kardashian, the reality TV star, created a stir by taking a photo of herself wearing a corset and posting it on Instagram. Kardashian called it a waist-training device, and indicated that it was her way of getting back into shape after the birth of her daughter, North (what an unimaginative name!)

It created a maelstrom of interest from males of all sizes who stormed to the stores to get said corset for their wives and mistresses in the hope that they could duplicate the curvy Ms Kardashian. Others protested that cinching the waist was so Middle Ages.

Although it seems controversial in this day and age, corsets have existed for centuries. The Victorians wore them; Scarlett O’Hara wore them; and Indian mothers used to wrap cloth tightly around their daughters’ bellies once they had delivered their babies, so that pregnant stomachs would shrink.

Today, we call it waist training, which sounds a whole lot more wholesome than it is.

As a feminist, Madame Gadgetry thinks the notion of wearing a corset to appear attractive to a man is ludicrous and old-fashioned. But you know what? Dirty secret—she does waist training these days in the hope of attaining an hourglass figure. The most pathetic part: she has to write about it in the third person. Okay, to own up and ‘fess up.

My name is Madame Gadgetry and I am a corset-oholic.

Orchard Corset’s steel-boned under bust satin corset is the proverbial iron hand in velvet glove. In this case, it is steel bones in a satin mesh. Mine is black (although there are a whole range of colours from purple to red to silver), five inches wide, and fits neatly around my waist. The company asks for a very specific set of measurements distilled through a YouTube instructional video. They include:

– Measure the smallest part of the waist

– Measure underneath the bust

– Measure hip

– Measure distance between lower part of bust and place where you bend when you sit.

Long-waisted women, predominantly from Scandinavian countries, with several inches between the breast and hip, need wider corsets, while Indians—general short-waisted, need just a few inch wide corsets.

Both perform the same function. They cinch your waist into a hourglass shape. How does this happen?

In an emailed reply, Orchard Corset said, “Waist training is moving your bottom two floating ribs (by tightening them). As that happens, the rest of your torso follows, giving you a smaller waist. Much like wearing braces on your teeth, over time you can slowly move those bones in.”

Much like braces, the process can be long and painful.

My corset is small. When folded in three, it is about the size of a cloth napkin. It can travel with you. The front part has five steel buttons that close tightly over your stomach. Then comes the cinching. The back of the corset contains laces that cross over like shoe laces. And serve pretty much the same purpose.

The first time, you loosen the laces so that the corset fits around your waist. Then, you button up. After that, it is just a matter of reach to the back of your waist and pulling the laces. The effect is immediate. The steel bones crush your waist inwards giving you an instant hourglass shape. There is only one problem: breathing becomes, well, breathy. You are in danger of

hyperventilating. Over time, you learn to breathe over these difficulties. You may not be able to expand your stomach while breathing like most normal folks. But you learn to breathe from your upper chest. There is one side benefit. The corset pushes up your breasts thus negating the need for a wonder bra.

There are many such products in the market, even in India, all sold under the label “shapewear.” These are tight but elastic undergarments that aim to mold and hold your bulges in place. For the most part, they succeed.

announces that its financial results for the fiscal second quarter 2017 will be released prior to market open on Wednesday, August 2, 2017. The Company will host a conference call at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on that day to discuss the detailed financial results.

Investors and analysts interested in participating in the call are invited to dial international callers please dial) and enter conference ID approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available online at

we believe, the largest vertically integrated supplier of decorated party goods globally by revenue. The Company is a popular one-stop shopping destination for party supplies, balloons, and costumes. In addition to being a great retail

brand, the Company is a global, world-class organization that combines state-of-the-art manufacturing and sourcing operations, and sophisticated wholesale operations complemented by a multi-channel retailing strategy and e-commerce retail operations. The Company is the leading player in its

category, vertically integrated and unique in its breadth and depth. Party City Holdco designs, manufactures, sources and distributes party goods, including paper and plastic tableware, metallic and latex balloons, Halloween and other costumes, accessories, novelties, gifts and stationery throughout the world.

The Company’s retail operations include over 900 specialty retail party supply stores (including approximately 150 franchise stores) throughout North America operating under the names Party City and Halloween City, and e-commerce websites, principally through the domain name PartyCity.com.

Irina Shayk and Bradley Cooper enjoy Tahitian holiday cunderbust-corset alongside Anderson Cooper and Allison WilliamsUnlikely group holidayOut of the park! Christina Milian hits homer with daring fishnet bralette top at MLB All-Star party in Miami BeachHot stuff’Really weird editing situation’: Jennie Garth wholesale-fashiondresses.com/,wholesale fashion dresses ‘swears’ she wasn’t taking a dig at 90210 costar Tiffani Thiessen during appearance on Drag RacJust Cruise-ing by! Tom Cruise appears in awe as he visits $16 million Scientology headquarters in New Zealand while filming Mission: Impossible Barefaced Perrie Edwards shows off her pretty freckles as she shares rare picture without stage make-upSummer glow’There is so much sexual harassment’: Zoe Kazan claims producer asked if she ‘spat or swallowed’ and was told to replicate erotic expressionsIs this why Jeremy McConnell spent the night on a park bench? Stephanie Davis’ ‘unwell’ ex was ‘kicked out of hotel for trying to bite her face’Speaking of pigs’: Ireland Baldwin joins star-studded roast of father Alec during One Night Only specialSee funny side of that voicemail

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